Poultry-coop.



No. 645,898. Patented Mar. 20, I900. C. N. FISHER.

POULTRY COOP.

(Application filed Aug. 18, 1898. Renewed Sept. 6, 1899.)

( o Model.)

1N VE N T OR Ckaries J: F 3. 7 I

Allorneys N o c m: NQRRIS PETERS co P 0., wasNmGTO NIED TATES PATEN Err:

POULTRY-COO P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,898, dated March20, 1900. Application filed August 18,1898. Renewed September 6, 1899.seri l No. 729,659. (No model.)

To alZ whom it may concern.-

' Be it known that I, CHARLESNICHOLAS FISHER, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at Warren, in the county of Tyler and State ofTexas, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in' Poultry-Ooops; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention is an improvement in poultrycoops, the object of my saidinvention being to provide a structure of this general character whichshall be strong and durable and also as light as possible consistentlywith the required strength, the parts being rigidly connected andthoroughly braced to withstand the rough handling to which such coops orcrates are usually subjected and support the weight of other crates thatmay be stacked thereon.

With the above object in View my invention consists of a coop orshipping-crate for poultry, &c., made up of light strips of Woodconnected to each other in a particular manner to form strong joints,the said frame being reinforced by strands of wire, which close thespaces between the strips and are connected to'the latter in such manneras to thoroughly strengthen the crate and reduce the wear and tear uponthe same in use.

The following specification enters into a detail description of myimproved poultry-coop or shipping-crate, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters thereon, which designate thedifferent parts, and what I consider to be the novel features ofconstruction are more particularly set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a coop or shipping-crateconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevationthereof. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through one corner of thecoop on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional viewthrough one corner of the coop on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is adetail sectional view on the line 5 5, Fig.1. Fig. 6 is a sec tionalview through one end of the coop.

In carrying out my invention I first construct a rectangular frame orcrate in which the strips forming the four sides and top are so disposedwith respect to each other as to form a rigid structure and thenthoroughly strengthen and brace this frame by strands of wire woven inand about the strips in such manner as to prevent them from becomingloosened, the corner-posts being constructed light and firmly connected,while the bottom of the crate is made up of thin boards held securely inplace by wire strands that are drawn taut and their ends fastened to thebody.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, A designates the cornerposts, which are each made up of two pieces a a, dis posed at rightangles to each other and nailed together, said corner-posts being aslong as the height of the crate, exclusive of the loot tom,hereinafterdescribed. To the upper ends of these posts are attached narrowlongitudinal strips B, forming the upper part of the sides of the crate,and similar strips 0, which form the upper part of the ends, the saidstrips being attached to the outer sides of the pieces a of thecorner-posts, as shown, while the ends are beveled for the purposehereinafter described.

Strips D and E, similar to B and G, are attached at their ends to thecentral portion of the corner-posts in the same manner as the aforesaidstrips, and strips F and G secured to the lower end of said posts. Thisforms a skeleton frame the parts of which are firmly connected to eachother by short wires H, the ends of which are passed through holes inthe horizontal strips and corner-posts to the inner side of the frame,where they are twisted together tightly, forming the strongest possiblebond and permitting the use of light ma= terial, the twisted ends beingbent back into the angle of the corner-posts to be out of the way.

The horizontal strips of the skeleton frame hereinbefore described areconnected to each other by a number of vertical strips 1, forming thepanels of the sides and ends of the crate, the said strips beingattached to the inner side of the horizontal strips and terminating attheir upper ends below the upper edge of the strips 13, while theirlower ends are flush with the lower edges of the strips F and G. Thevertical strips which form the end panels are extended to be fiush withthe upper edges of the strips O. Strips J extend across the top of theframe, with their ends resting upon the panels I, to which they arenailed, and lying over these strips at right angles thereto are stripsK, nailed to the upper ends of the panels which form the ends of thecrate. These strips present an open top or lattice-work, and by theparticular manner of attaching the same to the sides and ends of thecrate a strong connection is bad, for it will be noted that the stripsB, in addition to being attached to the panels I, are also nailed to theends of the top strips J, and the strips K, in addition to being nailedto the panels I, are also nailed to the strips 0, forming, practically,a lock-joint.

The sides, ends, and top of the crate, made up of the strips of woodconnected to each other in the particular manner hereinbefore described,are firmly braced or rigidly connected by reinforcing cross-wires, whichalso cover the spaces left between the strips. To this end a series ofwires L are extended across the top from side to side, being led overthe longitudinal top pieces and down to form additional side panels. Oneend of each wire is first passed through a hole f in the lower strip Gfrom the inner side and then back through a lower hole f and theterminal bent against the strip and over the wire, as shown, forming astrong connection. The wire is then passed behind the strip E, out overthe upper strip C, and across the top of the crate, the other end beingbrought down over the opposite strip 0 behind the strip E and theterminal threaded through the lower strip G in the same manner as theopposite end of the wire, the wire being drawn taut during theoperation. \Vhere the wires pass under the strips K and across thestrips J of the top, they are fastened thereto by staples 7; and arealso fastened by staples b and (Z to the strips Band D.

Extending across the top of the crate from end to end are a number ofwires M, said wires being secured at their ends to the lower strips F inthe manner hereinbefore described and passing behind the strips D, overthe upper strips B, and across the under side of the strips K of thetop, being attached to the aforesaid strips by staples, as shown. Thewires L and M, hereinbefore referred to,which extend across the centerof the top, are not carried across the central space in said top, beingbent into engagement with the central strips J and K to leave a doorway.In connecting the wires to these strips the ends are passed around theinner edges thereof and then threaded through holes therein. Coveringthis doorway is a sliding wire door N, having loops or eyes 72 at itssides, through which are passed guide-wiresN', extending from one of thestrips K under the top to one of the strips B, in order that the saiddoor can he slid under the top and uncover the doorway.

Extending around the crate to form horizontal panels are wires 0, whichoverlie the vertical panels and are passed through holes a in thecorner-posts to serve as an additional bond for said posts, the endsbeing brought through one of said corner-posts and twisted to draw thewire taut.

The bottom of the crate is made up of thin boards P, extending from oneside to the other and nailed to the lower strips I G and ends of thevertical panels I, a reinforcing crosspiece R extending across the upperside of the bottom, and the boards forming said bottom nailed thereto.Reinforcing-wires S are drawn across the under side of the botto1n,theends thereof being passed up through the boards 1) and strips F G, andafter being bent down over said strips the terminals are secured bystaples 8. These wires are secured to the bottom-boards P andcross-piece R by means of staples t and form a means of firmly holdingthe bottom-boards in place.

From the foregoing description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily seen that I construct a crate orpoultry-coop which will be strong and durable; also, that by theparticular manner of making the connections and disposing the parts thecrate can be made up of light material and will be exceedingly strong.

In practice it has been found that a rigid crate or coop is moreserviceable than one of the knockdown type, as this style of crate isusually subjected to rough handling and is therefore required to be verystrong and well put up and should also be as light as possible. In theconstruction of my improved crate I have taken all these requirementsunder consideration and have produced one that will positively withstandrough usage and will therefore be of considerable service.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- V 1. A poultry-coop or shipping-crate,comprising the corner-posts each made up of two pieces attached to eachother at an angle, horizontal strips secured at their ends to the outersides of said corner-posts, short wires passed through the strips andpieces forming the corner-posts and their ends twisted together and bentinto the angle of the cornerposts; vertical battens secured to the innersides of the horizontal strips to form panels, those at the ends of thecrate terminating below the upper edges of the upper strips; wiresextending around the sides of the crate, said wires being threadedthrough the pieces of the corner-posts and the ends at the inner side ofone of said corner-posts twisted together; cross-strips forming the topof the crate and nailed at their ends to the top strips and verticalbattens; and cross-wires extending across the top down the sides andattached at their ends to the lower horizontal strips, a doorway beingleft in the center of the top as shown; a wire door covering saiddoorway and provided with loops or eyes, and

IIO

guide-wires upon which said door slides; together with the'bottom-boardssecured to the lower horizontal strips, corner-posts and verticalbattens, as herein shown and described.

2. A poultry-coop or shipping-crate, comprising the cornenposts eachmade up of two pieces attached to each other at an angle, horizontalstrips secured at their ends to the outer sides of the corner-posts,short wires passed through the strips and pieces forming thecorner-posts and their ends twisted together and bent into the angle ofthe cornerposts; vertical battens secured to the inner sides of thehorizontal strips to form panels, those at the ends of the crateterminating below the upper edges of the upper horizontal strips;cross-strips forming the top of thecrate and attached at their ends tothe top horizontal strips and vertical battens; wires extending around.the sides of the crate through the piece of the corner-posts andtwisted together at their ends at the inner side of one of saidcorner-posts, and wires extending across the top down the sides andattached to the lower horizontal strips; together with the bottom-boardssecured to the lowerstrips, corner-posts and vertical battens, areinforcing cross-piece for the bottom, and strengthening-wires acrossthe under side of the bottom with their ends passed up through the lowerhorizontal strips and bent thereon, the wires of the crate being securedto the Wooden parts by staples, all as herein shown and particularlydescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES NICHOLAS FISHER.

Witnesses:

L. I. DEALY, B. S. FITZGERALD.

